The embodiments herein relate generally to devices that can move seawater.
The water cycle describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go, in and out of the atmosphere. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. In so doing, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor).
Prior to the disclosed invention, desalination of saltwater was accomplished, primarily by a multi-stage flash desalinator that used a combination of heat and vacuum to boil fresh water from salt water. In recent years, varieties of a reverse osmosis system have been used to desalinate water on a small scale. However, neither has done much to remedy the problem of a lack of fresh water.
Embodiments of the present invention solve this problem in a new way, rather than trying to make a direct change in state with a machine, embodiments of the present invention puts energy into the water cycle to help natural processes for creating additional freshwater by moving water from the ocean into the freshwater portions of the water cycle.